Defending Apeiron Northern Order of Merit champion Jack Brooks laid down one heck of a marker as he retained his Crosby Plate title at West Lancashire last night.
FORMAT: 36-hole stroke play
The former England international has his eyes on a hat-trick of Apeiron Northern Order of Merit titles and started in the best possible fashion, opening with a 64. That set up a three-shot victory over his Lancashire county colleague Jack McPhail (Southport & Ainsdale).
In the morning Brooks was one off the course record – held by James Rooney – as he went bogey free and his eight under par score is the lowest Northern Order of Merit round for at least two years. He was also just one off his all-time lowest score. That came at Pleasington.
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In the afternoon The Mere player shot a 71 and, across both rounds, had just one bogey all day.
“It was the strongest field the Crosby Plate has ever had so I knew something low was going to be required,” said Brooks
“And to be fair it was the calmest I have ever seen West Lancs and the greens were perfect. But I was really solid all day and it was really nice to get the victory in my first proper tournament of 2023, especially as I need a really good six months to get into that Walker Cup team.”
Playing alongside Lancashire stalwart John Carroll (Huyton & Prescott) and home favourite Joe Walsh, Brooks set the tone by firing his approach to four feet and holing the putt at the second.
He then rattled up three birdies in a row, starting at the sixth while at seven and eight he stuck his approach shots to gimme range.
At nine he missed from six feet to get to five under but then knocked in successive 30-footers at 10 and 11 to reach six under. That became seven at 15th and he made no mistake from four feet at 17 as he produced another stunning iron shot. He then left his birdie effort in the jaws at the last.
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McPhail was the only other player to break 70 before lunch (67) with Southport & Ainsdale duo Paul Howard and George Holland a further three shots back on two under.
In the afternoon both Jacks recorded 71s while Lincolnshire’s Levi Sleaford (Sleaford) moved into third thanks to a closing 70. Ormskirk’s Andrew Haswell, who finished second behind Brooks in the overall standings last year, had the best second round. His 68 saw him jump up into sixth.
The Crosby Plate is the first of 35 qualifying event this season. The next round takes place at Delamere Forest on April 16th.
And this year the top 30 in the final standings will be invited to play in the inaugural Apeiron Northern Order of Merit Grand Final at Hurlston Hall on September 25th. They will play for a £700 first prize and also partner a three ball in the Grand Final Am-Am.